Thursday, April 1, 2021

I did some research on hot cross buns to find out why “hot” and here is some of what I found. This all comes from a Google search so it must all be true!

Hot Cross Buns are inextricably linked to Easter and to Christianity. But in reality, they probably have pre-Christian origins. ‘Cross Buns’ were baked to celebrate Eostre, a Germanic Goddess of Fertility, after which the season of Easter is said to be named.

One theory is that the Hot Cross Bun originates from St Albans, in England, where Brother Thomas Rodcliffe, a 14th-century monk at St Albans Abbey, developed a similar recipe called an ‘Alban Bun’ and distributed the bun to the local poor on Good Friday, starting in 1361.

A traditional hot cross bun is a spiced, yeasted bun. It is traditionally made with raisins or currants and is marked with a cross on top. The spices inside the buns symbolise the spices put on the body of Jesus after he died. The buns are best served hot, hence how they received their name.

In 1592, Queen Elizabeth I decreed that hot cross buns could no longer be sold on any day except for Good Friday, Christmas or for burials. They were simply too special to be eaten any other day.

I’m not sure mine are all that special and I’ll certainly be eating them beyond Good Friday. I had some trouble with this year’s batch. Usually I throw the fruit in along with everything else rather than wait for the beep on the bread maker. This year I was having a cup of coffee and decided to wait for the beep. It seemed like it was a long time coming so I dug out my bread maker book and saw it took 45 minutes to the beep. I waited and waited and after almost an hour I decided the beep wasn’t going to happen so I added the fruit. But by then the bread maker was on a rest and rise cycle so the fruit didn’t get folded in until I did it myself when the dough was done and ready to cut into buns.

They may not be perfect but they are still good; Pat and I both tried them when they were hot. I will like them just as much cold, iced or not. And I have enough fruit for a second batch.